Passenger numbers may be down, but cows are flying thanks to the Department of Agriculture station on Stewart International Airport”™s property.
The Port Authoruty was able to fly 150 Canadian-bred cattle from the New Windsor location to Moscow. “While those aren”™t exactly the kind of passenger numbers people want to hear about,” smiled Diannae Ehler, airport general manager, addressing the Stewart Airport Commission on May 19, “it”™s something we can do out of this airport, thanks to the USDA presence here”
Unfortunately, passenger numbers for the Hudson Valley”™s airport are going to be little more than half of what they were when the PA took over from National Express Group in 2007. Between the recession, airline bankruptcies and mergers, and the cost of fuel in 2008, people are flying less and enjoying home more. Ehler predicted earlier in the year that Stewart would max out at approximately 400,000 passengers in 2009, “and we are on track to hit that number based on those earlier projections.” The 2007 number was between 900,000 and 1 million.
According to the PA”™s number pundits, it expects 14 million fewer passengers to fly out of its four New York airports, seven percent below 2008 numbers. Cargo overall is down for all of the agency”™s holdings, although Stewart has maintained and even increased the number of tonnage that has moved through New Windsor.
“We”™re averaging 1,600 tons a month,” Ehler told SAC during the meeting. “Initially, there was some concern we would lose DHL”™s domestic business, but other carriers went after it and captured it.”
While the airport, like most of its U.S. counterparts, remains in the doldrums, it is doing remedial work to the airport, including re-roofing and repaving as well as adding additional parking spaces adjacent to the main terminal.
When completed, Ehler says Stewart will have approximately 800 spaces in a manned lot adjacent to the current lot. “One thing Stewart”™s passengers have let us know is they like the convenience of being able to park close to the terminal,” said Ehler. “When passenger numbers pick up, and we are sure they will, we”™ll be ready to accommodate the public.”Â
Stewart is not alone in seeing the decline of passengers or cargo traffic, as most airlines are experiencing severe downturns at both retail and commercial levels as the recession continues to batter markets. While Stewart has done better than average in its first three months of the year, it expects to see numbers of passengers continue to dwindle as the recession digs in.
“The recession is global and deep,” Ehler told SAC members, with analysts projecting another decline in the GDP in the second quarter of 2009 to be somewhere near 4.2 percent.
Sandra Kissam, president of SPARC (Stewart Park and Reserve Coalition) asked for an update on the fire that burned down a structure on Crestview Lake several months ago. The lake was a local gathering place prior to the Port Authority taking over the property. Ehler had no details of the investigation, referring Kissam to the police.
